Football helmet harness



p 5, 1964 c. c. JONES 3,148,375

FOOTBALL HELMET HARNESS Filed Feb. 20, 1962 FIG. 3.

INVENTOR.

GOEDELL C. C/O/VES,

United States Patent l 3,148,375 FOGTBALL HELMET HARNESS Cordell C.Jones, 4029 Maple St., Vernon, Tex. Filed Feb. 20, 1962, Ser. No.174,615 2 Claims. (Cl. 2-3) This invention relates to a novel bodyharness adapted to be connected to the football helmet of a wearer, forpreventing neck and head injuries.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of an eflicient,practical, and easily used harness of the kind indicated, which includesa body-encircling member, to be worn around the body below theshoulders, and a connecting member extending upwardly from the bodyencircling member to the forepart of the helmet, and adapted to beconnected thereto, preferably to the faceguard bars of the helmet, whereso equipped, so that in body contacts during the course of a footballgame, the head of the player is prevented from being injuriously pushed.rearwardly, relative to his shoulders, and the helmet is prevented frombeing pushed rearwardly, on the head of the player, so as to preventexposure of the face of the player to injury, and/ or prevent injuriouscontact of the rear edge of the helmet with the back of the head or neckof the player.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a device of thecharacter indicated above, which is easily and quickly applicable to andremovable from the body and the helmet of a player, and which, whiledesirably limiting rearward binding of the head of the player, does notinterfere with the players normal activities, and serves to maintain theplayers head in line with his spine, in a position to non-injuriouslyresist contacts with or blows upon the top or sides of the head.

Other important objects and advantageous features of the invention willbe apparent from the following description and the accompanyingdrawings, wherein, for purposes of illustration only, a specific form ofthe invention is set forth in detail.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic side elevation, showing a device of the presentinvention applied to the body and the helmet of a football player;

FIGURE 2 is a front perspective view of the device, per se, partlybroken away and in section;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken on the line3-3 of FIGURE 2.

Referring in detail to the drawings, wherein like numerals designatelike parts throughout the several views, the illustrated device,generally designated 10, comprises a normally horizontal body-encirclingstrap 12, of flat flexible material of suitable character, such as wovenand reinforced canvas, synthetic material, or leather, formed in an openloop having separated ends 14 and 16, the end 14 being free, and the end16 provided with buckle means, such as a pair of buckle rings 18,suitably secured to the end 16, through which the free end 14 is adaptedto be passed and secured, in a well-known manner, for securing the strap12 around the upper part of the body B of a football player P, in theregion of the armpits.

A connecting pad 20 comprises a relatively thick sheet of resilient andcompressible material, such as vinyl sponge, which is folded upwardlyaround the strap 12, around the end 16 and protectively covers thebuckle rings 18, so that front and rear plies 22 and 24, respectively,protectively enclose and are disposed at the front and rear sidesthereof, and reach for a substantial distance above the strap 12. Lowerfastening and anchoring means, such as a rivet 26, extends through thepad plies ice 22 and 24, and through double thicknesses 28 of the strapend 16, which are looped around the buckle rings 18, with the bightportion 30 of the pad 20, spaced below the strap thicknesses, as shownin FIGURE 3.

The device 10 further comprises a vertical connecting strap 32, formedof material similar to the body strap 12, and in the form of a normallyclosed loop 34. The loop 34 comprises a bight portion 36, at its upperend, a relatively long rear flight 38, and a shorter forward flight 40.As shown in FIGURE 3, the lower end portion 42 of the rear flight 38extends downwardly along the front surface of the front ply 22 of thepad 20, and extends rearwardly and upwardly around the bight portion 30of the pad, and upwardly along the rear surface of the rear ply 24thereof, to the upper end of the latter. The portion 42 is traversed bythe lower rivet 26 and clamped in place under its heads, and an upperrivet 44, spaced above the strap 12, is similarly secured through thelower portion 40, and the plies of the pad 20, which, above the strap12, are clamped in contact with each other, by the upper rivet.

The free lower end 46 of the front flight 40 of the connecting strap 32is provided with at least two vertically spaced female snap fastenerelements 48, which are adapted to be adjustably and selectively engagedwith pairs of vertically spaced male snap fastener elements 5% on thefront side of the rear flight 38, above the pad 20.

The device 10, while devised for use with a football helmet H havingforwardly extending horizontal faceguard bars 52, over which theconnecting strap loop 34 is looped, contemplates other suitable methodsof connecting the connecting strap 32, with the lower forepart of ahelmet, as where the helmet is devoid of face-guard bars.

Where the loop 34 of the connecting strap 32 is connected to the helmetH by being looped over face-guard bars 52, the loop 34 is free to slideto either side along the bars 52, limited only by face-guard barstructure, so that movement of the players head, from side to side, isnot unduly limited. Advantageously, the device 10 does not limitdownward movement of the head of the player, but positively limitsunnecessary and dangerous upward and rearward movements of the playershead or his helmet, otherwise resulting from football game contacts.

Although there has been shown and described a pre ferred form of theinvention, it is to be understood that the invention is not necessarilyconfined thereto, and that any change or changes in the structure of andin the relative arrangements of components thereof are contemplated asbeing Within the scope of the invention as defined by the clainsappended hereto.

What is claimed is:

l. The combination with a helmet having spaced forwardly-projectinghorizontal face guard bars, the helmet being adapted to be mounted onthe head of a wearer so that the guard bars extend about and are spacedfrom the face of the wearer, of a body-supported harness operativelyconnected to the guard bars of said helmet, said harness embodying ahorizontal flexible strap adapted to encircle the body of said wearerbelow and adjacent the armpits thereof and having separated ends adaptedto be disposed at the front of the body of said wearer, one of the endsof the strap being free and the other end of said strap being providedwith buckle means, the free end of said strap being adapted to beinserted into and be releasably securable to said buckle means when thestrap encircles said body for securing the strap in position on saidbody, a resilient and compressible pad carried by the portion of saidstrap adjacent the other end thereof and protecting said buckle means, aflexible connecting strap having one end attached to said pad, saidconnecting strap being adapted to be looped about one of the guard barswhen said first-named strap encircles said body, and fastening means onthe other end of said connecting strap and releasably securable tocomplemental fastening means on the connecting strap inwardly of andspaced from said first-named fastening means when the connecting straphas been looped about one of the guard bars for attaching the guard barsof the helmet to, the connecting strap.

2. Thecombination according to claim 1 wherein said first-mentionedfastening means embodies a pair of spaced female snap fastener elements,and wherein said complemental fastening means embodies pairs of spacedmale snap fastener elements.

4 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS579,964 Deming Apr. 6, 1897 1,105,569 Lacrotte July 28, 1914 1,928,238Willson et al Sept. 26, 1933 2,735,424 Benjamin Feb. 21, 1956 2,944,263Rayburn et a1 July 12, 1960 2,985,883 Marietta May 30, 1961 3,059,932Smallwood Oct. 23, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 627,567 France Oct. 7, 1927564,614 Great Britain Oct. 5, 1944

1. THE COMBINATION WITH A HELMET HAVING SPACED FORWARDLY-PROJECTINGHORIZONTAL FACE GUARD BARS, THE HELMET BEING ADAPTED TO BE MOUNTED ONTHE HEAD OF A WEARER SO THAT THE GUARD BARS EXTEND ABOUT AND ARE SPACEDFROM THE FACE OF THE WEARER, OF A BODY-SUPPORTED HARNESS OPERATIVELYCONNECTED TO THE GUARD BARS OF SAID HELMET, SAID HARNESS EMBODYING AHORIZONTAL FLEXIBLE STRAP ADAPTED TO ENCIRCLE THE BODY OF SAID WEARERBELOW AND ADJACENT THE ARMPITS THEREOF AND HAVING SEPARATED ENDS ADAPTEDTO BE DISPOSED AT THE FRONT OF THE BODY OF SAID WEARER, ONE OF THE ENDSOF THE STRAP BEING FREE AND THE OTHER END OF SAID STRAP BEING PROVIDEDWITH BUCKLE MEANS, THE FREE END OF SAID STRAP BEING ADAPTED TO BEINSERTED INTO AND BE RELEASABLY